Rental property audits
Tax office to double audits of ‘dodgy’ rental deductions Rental property owners are being warned to ensure their claims are correct this tax time, as the ATO has announced it will double the number of audits scrutinising rental deductions, with a specific focus on: over-claimed interest; capital works claimed as repairs; incorrect apportionment of expenses for […]
Tax time tips for small business
Top 3 business tax return issues To lend a ‘helping hand’ to small businesses to get their tax right this tax time, the ATO has identified the top three issues for small businesses lodging their tax returns: Failing to report all of their income; Not having the necessary records to prove small business expenses claims; […]
Six FBT issues
FBT issues on the ATO’s radar The ATO has updated their What attracts our attention list with six items that specifically relate to fringe benefits tax (‘FBT’), as follows: Failing to report motor vehicle fringe benefits, incorrectly applying exemptions for vehicles or incorrectly claiming reductions for these benefits. Incorrectly calculating car parking fringe benefits due to: […]
Claims for home office expenses
Claims for home office expenses increased The ATO has updated the hourly rate taxpayers can use to determine deductions for home office expenses from 45 cents to 52 cents per hour for individual taxpayers, effective 1 July 2018 (i.e. from the 2019 income year). According to the ATO’s recently updated PS LA 2001/6, individual taxpayers […]
Home office expense claims
Increased scrutiny of home office claims Last year, 6.7 million taxpayers claimed a record $7.9 billion in deductions for ‘other work-related expenses’, which includes home office expenses. Reportedly, due to a high number of mistakes, errors and questionable claims for home office expenses, the ATO has recently advised that it will be increasing attention, scrutiny […]
Avoid 5 common GST reporting errors
ATO identifies five common errors when reporting GST Errors make up more than half of the overall corrections made to GST reporting. In most cases, the mistakes are due to a taxpayer error. With some simple checks, you can avoid these most common errors. When reporting GST: make sure the timing is correct, and report for […]
Xero case study
Transposition error gets bookkeeper the snip Eve runs a successful hair salon in The Hills and has a friendly, professional manner that all her devoted clients love. She is also a conscientious business owner and knows how easily the books can get on top of her, which is why she appointed an external bookkeeper from get-go. This […]
Tax Time mistakes
ATO guide to the 5 most common Tax Time mistakes As Tax Time 2018 has ‘kicked off’, the ATO has profiled the five most common mistakes they see, including taxpayers who are: Leaving out some of their income (e.g. forgetting a temp or cash job, capital gains on cryptocurrency, or money earned from the sharing […]
Clothing claims
ATO putting clothing claims through the wringer A focus on work-related clothing and laundry expenses this Tax Time will see the ATO “more closely examine taxpayers whose clothing claims don’t suit them”. According to Assistant Commissioner Kath Anderson, around 6 million people claimed work-related clothing and laundry expenses last year, with total claims adding up […]
Small business tax tips
Tax time tips for small business The ATO claims that it is committed to supporting small businesses and making it as easy as possible for them to understand and meet their tax obligations at tax time. Consequently, Assistant Commissioner Mathew Umina has some tips to help small business in the lead up to and during […]
